Alexander Hamilton/Transcript
Transcript Text on a newspaper's front page reads: The Mysteries of Life with Tim and Moby. A boy, Tim, is walking home from school, wearing a backpack. As he approaches his house, he hears hip-hop music. He opens the front door and sees a robot, Moby, teaching three rows of small robots a dance routine. All of the robots are dressed in colonial-era clothing. Two of the robots fall over. MOBY: Beep. Moby brings the class to a halt, and gestures for the robots to watch him. The music resumes and he demonstrates several dance moves, accompanied by a variety of colorful lighting effects. TIM: Um, so many questions. Moby walks over to Tim and points to a flier on a bulletin board. MOBY: Beep. TIM: "Hamilton the Musical is going on the road. Apply now to be a backup dancer." ROBOT: Blorp. Tim looks down, and a small robot hands him a sheet of paper. Tim reads from a typed letter. TIM: Dear Tim and Moby, Can you do a movie on Alexander Hamilton? From, Nicho (Braddock Heights, Maryland). TIM: Sure thing, Nicho. There's a lot of love for Alexander Hamilton these days. Until recently, he was sort of like the forgotten Founding Father. Maybe because he was never president. An image shows a portrait of Alexander Hamilton. A second image shows his likeness on a ten-dollar bill. The ten-dollar bill is joined by a one-dollar bill, displaying George Washington's portrait. Washington blows raspberries at Hamilton. TIM: Or maybe because he never wore a cool hat, like this guy. An image shows a hundred-dollar bill, with Benjamin Franklin wearing a coonskin hat. TIM: But it's still fitting that Hamilton's face would wind up on some money. His ideas laid the foundation for the U.S. Treasury Department. An image shows the flipside of a ten-dollar bill, with an image of the United States Treasury building. MOBY: Beep. TIM: That's the agency that handles America's finances. It collects our taxes, takes out loans, pays the country's bills, and prints our money. Images illustrate the activities Tim describes. TIM: Hamilton served as the first Secretary of the Treasury, the head of the department. He strengthened America's economy and shaped it for centuries to come. An animation shows a slender Uncle Sam growing into a muscle-bound Uncle Sam. His growing muscles burst through his clothes. TIM: And, in the process, he rescued our fragile democracy. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Well, after the American Revolution, the country was in kind of a weird place. Against all odds, the United States had defeated the biggest empire in the world. A map shows the original thirteen colonies. A flag of the United Kingdom appears and is pushed away by an American flag. TIM: But in reality, there was very little that united the 13 former colonies. State flags rise over each of the 13 new states. TIM: The states each had their own culture and laws. Each could coin its own money, form its own armies, even make its own treaties. Images show coins, soldiers, and a handshake. TIM: The only thing that legally tied them together was the Articles of Confederation. That was America's first Constitution, drafted in 1776. An image shows the Articles of Confederation. TIM: The Articles let the colonies coordinate just enough to win the war. But it wasn't nearly up to the task of building a nation. A cartoon shows several states standing on top of each other and wearing the Articles of Confederation as a suit. TIM: To Alexander Hamilton, that was obvious long before the war's end. MOBY: Beep. TIM: At just 22 years old, he was serving as an assistant to George Washington. Drafting letters, delivering orders, meeting with diplomats, whatever the general needed. The little robots are rehearsing scenes from their production. The robot wearing a cardboard mask of Hamilton's face is taking notes while the robot wearing a mask of Washington's face is speaking. TIM: In that role, Hamilton was present at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania in the winter of 1778. The robots playing Hamilton and Washington watch as robots dressed as Washington's soldiers huddle around a campfire in a snowstorm.. TIM: He watched helplessly as troops died of starvation, cold, and disease. A member of the theater troupe stands atop a ladder, shaking artificial snow onto the robots acting in the Valley Forge scene. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Soldiers did get paid in continentals, the money printed by the Articles Congress. But farmers and merchants wouldn't accept the currency. A soldier attempts to pay a farmer with a continental. The money says it is worth "one third of a dollar." The farmer throws the currency onto the snowy ground and jumps up and down on it. TIM: Everyone knew the Articles government had no power to collect taxes. So, nobody trusted its dollars. For Hamilton, the lesson was simple. A government with worthless money wasn't worth much itself. The Hamilton robot looks at the money on the ground and appears concerned. MOBY: Beep. TIM: After the war, he settled in New York and built a successful law firm. In his spare time, he studied economics and political philosophy, wrote essays and articles arguing for a stronger government, and served in the state legislature. Tim and Moby are standing in front of the set of the play. The little robots change the set from Valley Forge to Hamilton's office. The Hamilton robot sits at his desk, studying and writing. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Yeah, he had an insane work ethic. That's what had gotten him so far. Behind Tim and Moby, the robots change the set to a tropical island. The Hamilton robot looks sadly at a gravestone. Text on the gravestone reads: RIP Beloved Mother, 1768. TIM: Hamilton was born dirt-poor, on the Caribbean island of Nevis. His mother's death left him an orphan at age 13. But he saw to his own education and developed into a gifted writer. The Hamilton robot kicks a palm tree and walks to the island's library and goes inside. TIM: Local leaders were so impressed, they paid for him to go to college on the mainland. MOBY: Beep. TIM: I know. Think about that. A 17-year-old kid lands in New York, and within a few years, he's at the center of the Revolution. A little after that, he's running a law firm and serving as a legislator. The robots change the set back to Hamilton's office, where Hamilton sits and reads. TIM: But as Hamilton's star was rising, the new nation was on the brink of failure. Since the war, the government had sunk even further into debt. Riots broke out as soldiers who'd served in the Revolution went unpaid. And British troops were building forts on American soil. An animation shows foreign creditors demanding money from an ill-looking Uncle Sam, angry men rioting, and a British flag flying over a large fort. TIM: Hamilton sensed that the time was right for a new direction. The Hamilton robot gets to his feet and slams the newspaper he has been reading onto his desk. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Writing letters to leaders around the country, he called for a meeting to strengthen the Articles of Confederation. Today, it's known as the Constitutional Convention. The robots change the set from Hamilton's office to the setting of the Constitutional Convention. Three little robots are dressed as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Benjamin Franklin. TIM: Hamilton was one of three delegates from the state of New York. Within a few months, there was a draft for a new Constitution, based on the principle of federalism. The Hamilton robot signs the draft of the Constitution. TIM: States would have to share power with a strong national government. An animation shows a balance scale, with individual states on one side and a muscle-bound Uncle Sam on the other side. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Actually, the Constitution still had to be ratified, or approved, by a majority of states. And many of them still had doubts about giving up so much control. An animation shows the United States Constitution, with individual states walking around, examining it thoughtfully. TIM: Hamilton immediately set about convincing them. Along with James Madison and John Jay, he wrote a series of essays arguing for a strong national government. Today, they're known as the Federalist Papers. The Hamilton robot walks onstage holding an essay from the Federalist Paper series. He places the essay on the wall for examination. MOBY: Beep. TIM: They definitely helped turn the tide, and the Constitution was ratified in 1788. But that didn't really silence Hamilton's opposition. The anti-federalists wanted to ensure that states kept as much power as possible. Robots dressed as two competing groups of protestors appear. One group carries signs reading: Anti-Federalists. The other carries signs reading: Federalists. TIM: These two factions soon organized into the nation's first political parties. Two representatives, one from each group, begin to fight each other. One is an Anti-Federalist dressed as Thomas Jefferson. The other is the Hamilton robot, a Federalist. TIM: Their debate spilled over into George Washington's presidency. The George Washington robot appears and breaks up the fight. TIM: He picked Hamilton to be the first Treasury Secretary, and appointed his main rival, Thomas Jefferson, as Secretary of State. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Hamilton focused on reviving the American economy. He set up a national bank, which set a single currency for the whole country. Unlike continentals, the new dollars were backed up with real financial power. An animation shows a continental being pushed aside by a ten-dollar bill. TIM: The Treasury could raise taxes, which it did on imports and other goods. It could also sell bonds, which were like government IOUs. A robot customer goes to a stand labeled: Bank of the United States. The customer hands a robot teller a bag of money labeled: $20. The teller gives the customer a $20 bond. TIM: After a certain period, the bank bought them back at a higher value. Time passes. The robot customer returns the bond to the robot teller and receives a bag of money labeled: $30. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Right. It's basically the government borrowing money from the people, and then paying it back with interest. This system of public credit is how the government pays for stuff to this day. Anti-Federalists weren't happy about the expansion in federal power. Robots dressed as Anti-Federalist protestors throw tomatoes at the Bank of the United States' stand. TIM: But Hamilton's policies stabilized the economy. MOBY: Beep. TIM: He left office in 1795, returning to practice law in New York. The robots replace the set for Hamilton's office. Hamilton sits at his desk, writing. TIM: Though he never served in office again, he stayed in the public eye through his letters and essays. But eventually, the gift for writing that had changed his life led to its end. MOBY: Beep. TIM: In 1804, a political feud with vice president Aaron Burr turned personal. An animation shows two newspaper columns. The headline of the first column reads: Opinion, Aaron Burr: Liar by Alexander Hamilton. The headline of the second column reads: Opinion, Hamilton: Evil by Aaron Burr. TIM: Though they'd once been allies, the two men now loathed each other. They traded public insults and couldn't resolve their differences. An animation shows the images of Hamilton and Burr in each of the newspaper columns reaching out and sparring with each other. TIM: So, on the morning of July 11, 1804, they met for a duel. Hamilton won the right to fire first. Some say he fired in the air, others that he simply missed. The Hamilton and Burr robots meet on an outdoor set and hold a duel. Hamilton fires and does not hit Burr. TIM: And then, it was Burr's turn. At Tim's feet, the cast of the play cover their eyes and start to cry. MOBY: Beep. TIM: Alexander Hamilton died the following afternoon. The Hamilton robot lies in bed, writing on a document with a quill pen. Friends stand near his bed. TIM: He was only 49, but he'd made a lasting mark. His ideas continue to shape our thinking about the role of government in our lives. Hip-hop music begins to play. The cast of robots breaks into a slow dance number in front of Hamilton’s bed. TIM: The question about state versus federal powers still rages on today. Supreme Court justices regularly quote the Federalist Papers to support their opinions. The Hamilton robot jumps up and dances along with the rest of the cast. The little robots leave the stage and dance around Tim and Moby. One robot places a tricorn hat on Tim's head. TIM: I, I am not rapping. An iris circle closes on Tim, ending the video.Category:BrainPOP Transcripts